Philosophy Assemblies

This week’s theme is assemblies, although the stimuli mentioned could be used for a normal-sized group. Philosophy Assemblies are a great way to embed philosophy as a whole-school practice, but they are very different to normal assemblies. How can you set the right mood, choose the right stimulus and facilitate successfully with such a large group?

We’ve put together three how-to videos, and a video stimulus that clashes the recent UK election with the release of the Wonder Woman film to pose the question, “What Thinking Superheroes would make the perfect team to run a country?”

A favourite suggestion from Finton House school, who road-tested the stimulus last Friday, was “Echo”, who learns from history so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. He could have saved Theresa May a world of pain!

The How-to videos are on:

How are Philosophy Assemblies Different?
How to Choose a Stimulus for a Philosophy Assembly
How to Facilitate a Philosophy Assembly

These and the superhero stimulus are all at: www.thephilosophyman.com/p4c-assemblies

Best wishes,

Jason & Tom


PS: Philosophy Assemblies can form part of a P4C Launch/Reboot day at your school. These are normally held Tuesday to Thursday and we have more availability than for the most popular INSET days, which sometimes get snapped up over a year in advance.

Here’s a suggested schedule:

9.00-10.00 Workshop with parents – “Talking at Home, at Home with Talking”
10.00-10.30 Reception workshop
10.30-10.45 Cup of tea
10.45-11.15 Year 1 workshop
11.15-12.00 Year 3 workshop
12.00-1.00 Lunch with your P4C lead teacher
1.05-1.35 Philosophy Assembly Reception and KS1
1.40-2.10 Philosophy Assembly KS2
2.15-3.00 Year 5 Workshop
3.30-5.00 Twilight INSET

These days include all the resources of the Philosophy Circles Premium Pack and copies of the Philosophy Circles Handbook and Thinkers’ Games for all staff. The parent workshop equipping parents with fun strategies for more imaginative and thoughtful talk at home, held at drop-off time, makes it a particularly good use of Pupil Premium funding. Email tom@thephilosophyman.com or ring for 01245 830123 for details.

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